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BACKGROUND: Osteochondroma is the most common non-malignant tumour of bone, accounting for approximately one third of benign lesions in the skeleton. They often develop around the knee in the distal femur and in the proximal tibia and fibula. They present as a painless slow growing mass during adolescence and have been reported to cause damage to adjacent structures such as blood vessels; arterial damage is more common than venous injury and is usually a result of compression, stretching, and rubbing of the arterial wall. Such lesions include stenosis, thrombosis, and pseudoaneurysm formation possibly causing lower limb claudication or acute limb ischemia. METHODS: An 18 year old male patient with a 4 week history of pain, hematoma, and oedema of the left calf without previous trauma is reported. A computed tomography scan (CT) revealed a large popliteal artery pseudoaneurysm and its close relationship to a protrusion of the proximal tibia. RESULTS: The popliteal artery was repaired by an external saphenous patch and the exostosis was removed. The patient had palpable popliteal and distal pulses after surgery and during the first year follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Tibial osteochondroma should be considered in the differential diagnosis in young patients, among the potential causes of pseudoaneurysm of the femoral or popliteal artery. Surgical repair should be performed to restore normal blood flow with resection of the exostosis to prevent recurrence.
RESUMO
Introducción. La neuropatía, la isquemia y la infección son los tres factores directamente relacionados con la aparición y desarrollo de las úlceras en los pacientes diabéticos. La infección definida mediante parámetros clínicos y apoyada por cultivos microbiológicos es el principal factor pronóstico de la lesión. Objetivo. Estudiar la etiología infecciosa de las úlceras en pacientes diabéticos y no diabéticos, así como la sensibilidad in vitro a antimicrobianos de los microorganismos aislados, nos permitirá establecer la mejor pauta antibiótica empírica en nuestro medio asistencial. Pacientes y métodos. Estudio observacional, transversal y prospectivo de 200 pacientes consecutivos, diabéticos y no diabéticos, ingresados por la presencia de úlceras isquémicas o neuropáticas con signos locales de infección. Toma de tres muestras microbiológicas el día del ingreso previa administración del tratamiento empírico (ciprofloxacino + clindamicina) y valoración de su respuesta clínica y sus modificaciones a específico por resistencia de los microorganismos. Resultados. En la mayoría de los cultivos se aisló microbiota polimicrobiana con predominio de aerobios-anaerobios gramnegativos y aerobios grampositivos. Staphylococcus aureus (10,6%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa y Bacteroides fragilis fueron los microorganismos más frecuentemente aislados. La terapia empírica tuvo que modificarse en más del 50% de los casos por resistencia. La mayor sensibilidad in vitro para los microorganismos grampositivos fue para la vancomicina, seguida de cloxacilina y amoxicilina/clavulánico. En el caso de aerobios-anaerobios gramnegativos, fue para meropenem, tobramicina e imipenem, y para los anaerobios, imipenem, cefoxitina y amoxicilina/clavulánico. Conclusiones. La administración de amoxicilina/clavulánico solo o asociado a tobramicina constituye una pauta antibiótica con amplio espectro para los pacientes ambulatorios. En régimen de ingreso el antibiótico de elección sería imipenem, seguido de piperacilina/tazobactam
Introduction. Neuropathy, ischaemia and infection are the three factors directly related to the appearance and development of ulcers in diabetic patients. Infection defined by means of clinical parameters and backed up by microbiological cultures is the main prognostic factor of the lesion. Aims. To study the infectious causation of ulcers in diabetic and non-diabetic patients, in addition to the in vitro sensitivity to antimicrobials of the microorganisms that were recovered, in order to enable us to develop a better empirical antibiotic regimen in our health care area. Patients and methods. We conducted a prospective, cross-sectional, observational study involving 200 consecutive diabetic and non-diabetic patients who were admitted to hospital due to the presence of ischaemic or neuropathic ulcers with local signs of infection. Three microbiological samples were taken on the day of admission before administration of the empirical treatment (ciprofloxacin + clindamycin) and their clinical response and modifications in the specific due to resistance of the microorganisms were evaluated. Results. Polymicrobial microbiota were recovered from most of the cultures, with predominance of gram-negative aerobic-anaerobics and gram-positive aerobics. Staphylococcus aureus (10.6%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Bacteroides fragilis were the most frequently recovered micro-organisms. The empirical therapy had to be modified in over 50% of cases due to resistance. The highest sensitivity in vitro for the grampositive micro-organisms was to vancomycin, followed by cloxacillin and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid. In the case of gram-negative aerobic-anaerobics, it was found to be meropenem, tobramycin and imipenem, while the anaerobics were seen to be more sensitive to imipenem, cefoxitin and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid. Conclusions. Administration of amoxicillin/ clavulanic acid alone or in association with tobramycin constitutes a wide-spectrum antibiotic regimen for outpatients. If the patient is hospitalised, the preferred antibiotic would be imipenem, followed by piperacillin/ tazobactam
